This invention relates to small boats and more particularly to boats which fold and in which certain folded parts nest within other parts for compact transport and storage.
Folding boats are well known in the small boat art. Some of the prior art boats include U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,324 to Lesly which sets forth a multipontoon boat in which the pontoons pivot relative to one another to reduce the overall width.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,684,139 to Johnson; 4,841,900 to Maselko; 4,827,865 to Yelderman; 3,724,011 to Scholle are exemplary of rigid boat sections hinged together so that the bow folds over the stern. These reduce the length by half, but the width remains unchanged.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,822,427 to Ewart and 3,996,635 to Wilkes both teach dividing the boat transversely into multiple rigid sections which nest together to further shorten the length of the boat. These do not however, reduce the width of the collapsed boat. A great reduction in both width and length of a boat for storage is desirable. This may be accomplished by use of inflatable construction. However inflated boats do not have the rigidity and fine lines often desired in a small boat.